Question

Jim cut out 4 small squares and 3 big squares from a piece of cardboard. The length of the sides of each small square was x inches and the length of the sides of each big square was y inches. The expression below shows the total number of square inches of cardboard that Jim used for cutting out the squares.

4x2 + 3y2

What does the term 4x2 in the expression represent?

The total area of the big squares

The total area of the small squares

The total perimeter of the big squares

The total perimeter of the small squares